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Southern Michigan Classic Boaters

Lake Hopatcong Classic Boaters

Wednesday, December 11, 2013

Anyone Got A 454? Anyone? 454? Anyone?

Pumpkin being taken out of the lake after sinking.

It’s official, one of our favorite boats “Pumpkin” the orange Chris Craft jet boat is now an official Woody Boater boat. Woody Gal and the late ARRRRG wanted us to have some fun with her. And of course we are happy to supply some insanity. John Freeman shipped her from Oklahoma to here in Virginia over the past couple weeks. The sad part, other than ARRRG is boating in a much better place is that Pumpkin’s 454 is shot. Some sort of issue happened when she sunk because of some other issue. Thats all we really know.

No one sure what happened, Either way, she had a loose screw someplace.

The deal from Woody Gal, was, lets get her running and have some fun. So that’s the plan. Now, her 454 only had 10 hrs on her from a fresh rebuild, then sunk, then was gone through, oil changed twice, ran and then stopped running.

Pumpkin left Oklahoma to Florida for a couple weeks and now is home in Virginia.

We are going to tear it down to make sure its not something easy, heads etc….. But planning on the worst. No huge rebuild, this is a fun boat. Not a money pit we hope. Can we do it on a budget of nothing? The deal was if the boat is to be sold off, all the money goes to having a party! All part of the fun of Woody Boating,…These boats are not big money boats as to value sadly. but big on fun. So, anyone got a suburban or truck that is rusted out but runs? 454? Ambulance? Some old piece of crap? We don’t want to have to rebuild, just pull and drop it in. We got all the new marine parts, manifolds etc to make it work. We will be glad to get the motor out of your yard, maybe even throw in a tshirt. Ya thats it, A t shirt for a 454? Seems fair? Maybe a hat too? You get to drive it.

39 Responses to “Anyone Got A 454? Anyone? 454? Anyone?”

Greg Lewandowski

Troy

m-fine

I would love to add that craft to my collection of Pain in the A$$ Chris Craft jet boats, but that would cost me a divorce at the moment.

One would think that engine shouldn’t be too bad to rebuild. If you are lucky, no machining, just inspect, replace a few parts and reassemble. Without knowing the symptems, I would start with fuel and spark before even pulling the heads. If it turns over, check compression and you will know a lot more.

BTW, if it turns into a longer term project, I can offer a place to store her until the engine is ready or we find a new one.

m-fine

Grant Stanfield

That’s bizarre… I just saw this 454 CC jetboat on Craigslist last night in Appleton, WI. I was not familiar with these before but here you go…maybe she can be a donor…perhaps a sistership named ‘Zucchini’ ? Best of luck- sad to see her down.

jekyl

Alex

Matt. As you know, I’ve got one of these wild things.

They do not command much money, you’re right. Except from they bank account. Ugh. However, they are great fun to drive! Mine has her original 350 (with some water getting into the oil). Ugh again. But I must say, the kids absolutely LOVE this boat, for them and their friends. And thrill rides they are! I run the gas pedal (yes, it’s a pedal, just like a car, which is how true jet boats are set up), and they sit behind the wheel and steer.

A couple thoughts re your boat. Don’t be wed to a 454. I’d consider a 350. I have read where the boats perform better with the lighter motor — quicker to plane, less tail heavy (as if that’s possible), and less tendency to porpoise, though the trim tabs you have will definitely help with that.

My 350 puts out 300 hp. I’ll bet your 454 puts out little more, depending on its condition. In any event, even if it were 100 extra hp, it will not translate to much more mph given the inefficiency of the original Jacuzzi jet on your boat and mine. (Btw, the newer jets are about 25% more efficient than our Jacuzzi’s and not too much $. Now THAT’s where the speed can come from.)

Mine does somewhere near 50 mph I think, but it feels like closer to 85 — you sit much lower than you do on a jet ski.

I’ll try to attach a few pics of mine later… You might want to reference the WB story you did on it a few years ago so newer readers can see what these really look like. Hint: better when they’re not under tarp or under water or pumping out bilge juice. 🙂

Incidentally, I have another one of these. Though the one I mentioned above is show quality and correct, I envision a restomod for the 2nd one. Jet boats are excellent candidates for that, and the Chris- hulls are uncommonly pretty to base on. Yours is already such a 1 of 1 creation. I expect WoodyGal can verify this, but I understand it was custom done for a major Fair (was it Chicago?). That’s why you have the harlequin stitched interior, custom bow rails, bow flag pole, and the very very cool color, which if my memory serves me right, could really pop again with some correct materials and elbow grease.

Larry was such a kind-hearted man. Glad to learn Pumpkin is in your hands now. Do him proud. That includes driving it like you stole it. He sure knew how to do that.

P.S. In one of your pics, the Jetson stern pole looks kinds limp. There’s meds for that you know.

Randy Rush Captain Grumpy

John Rothert

I am with Mfine….that engine can’t be really shot? If you tell that story to some sympathetic machine shop…maybe they would do some inspections and give sound advice for free. If that boat is here in Va….I could suggest a place.

Alex

Alex

Alex

Dick Dow

A stroker small block would be just right! 🙂 That said, 454’s are a dime a dozen, so you should be able to have “Pumpkin” up and running in no time. If there were only 10 hours on the motor, the reason it quit is likely something pretty minor unless there was a loud noise associated with the stoppage…

matt

mmmm I think its about the same, Alex has the smaller engine so it may be different. The white bottom on Pumpkin is a bit distracting. I think. The good news is that we have officialy secured an engine and the boat is going to be completly redone. Stay tuned tomorrow for the update!Hows that for a teaser.

m-fine

Rick

I thought only wood boats sank. That’s why my other boat is plastic. Darn another thing to worry about. What a bummer that picture is, my sympathies. Lucky it wasn’t salt, unless you like pickles enough to pickle an engine.

David

Dick,

I think you are on to something. If you look at the transom on the blue boat, the bottom of the exhaust outlet is on a line with the top of the jet drive. In contrast, the top of the exhaust outlets on Pumpkin are in line with the top of the jet drive.

Now you look at the waterline on the blue boat, it seems to be at the widest point in the tumblehome. That would correspond to the orange paint line (waterline?) on Pumpkin. That would suggest that the entire exhaust outlet is well underwater.

If you spring a leak in the exhaust between the transom and the exhaust manifold, you sink. It is that simple. Nothing will save you from a broken exhaust hose clamp. Depending upon the riser height you may also need to be very careful when launching the boat as water could backflow right into the engine.

Just a word (or 50) of caution. I don’t want to see you ever need to take another picture of the boat in that sad sub-surface predicament.

Sean

I’m surprised that you only get 50 mph out of one of those…. My ol’ Greavette gets 50mph on the GPS (and it has a V6).

Does that big block have risers or logs? Is it a proper marine cam? Reversion is a problem with high performance cams that are not designed for marine use. If you don’t have a proper one you can drown your engine without having a leak. Although pumpkin seems to have had another isseue….

Alex

Sean, Tommy Mertaugh told me early jets were just plain inefficient. Much less that a properly configured prop. However, advances in bell and impeller design among other things have significantly improved this. Were I to change either or both those on my boat, I’m pretty sure I’d be looking at 60. You’ll note most jet boats aren’t factory stock. They’re modded up the wazoo with superchargers, headers, and big blocks, to pump out 700 or more hp. Those babies hit serious speed!

Sean

A failed clamp could sink it if left for a time. Bilge pump dies with the battery and then its a game of time.

The exhaust placement in and of itself is not the culprit. Many boats have an exhaust at/under the waterline. Flappers help but, are by no means watertight.

Water entering the exhaust may help to cause hydrolock on the engine especially at low rpm with an agressive camshaft (causing reversion). But this does not “clank” and at does not sink the boat. Of course that’s not to say that a drier location for the exhaust exit isn’t a good idea…

If there are “log” exhaust manifolds be sure there are risers of sufficient size to protect the motor. Possibly consider moving to regular manifolds and risers.

If there are low hours on a fresh rebuild I would estimate a part failure or a mistake in assembly. You will have to do an exploritory to discover this.